The Heathrow Archive

The Heathrow Archive was deposited by Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited (HAHL) in 2015. The collection tells the story of Heathrow’s history from 1946 to 2016 and originates from the British Airports Authority (BAA) which operated Heathrow from 1965 until 2006.

There are more than 800 items within the collection including:

official documents

promotional material

publications, images

ephemera

model aircraft

cabin bags

airline souvenirs such as key rings and shoe horns

pieces of clay from deep beneath the airport cleared during excavations to construct the Heathrow Express tunnels.

Other collections

UWLA also hold archives of some early institutions of the University, which include the London College of Music, the Wolfson School of Nursing and Ealing Technical College and School of Art.

The UWLA catalogue contains descriptions for all of the archives which have been catalogued. Researchers can search the collection online to find references for specific items.

Access

The archive is based on the third floor of the Paul Hamlyn library in room PE.03.007. Access is by appointment only. Appointments are available Monday to Friday, 10.00 am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 4.00pm.

If you would like to find out more information or book a place to see the archive collections, please contact the archivist, Anne-Marie Purcell on 020 7231 2742 or email library@uwl.ac.uk.

University of West London Archive (UWLA)
Room PE.03.007
Third Floor, Paul Hamlyn Library
University of West London
St Mary's Road
Ealing
W5 5RF

About the Heritage Lottery Fund

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About Heathrow Airport

Heathrow is the UK’s hub airport, home to more than 80 airlines connecting to more than 180 destinations. Every year Heathrow welcomes over 70 million passengers with a commitment to ‘making every journey better.’ Following an investment of more than £11 billion over the past 10 years, passengers have voted Heathrow the ‘Best Airport in Western Europe,’ ‘Best Airport Terminal’ for Terminal 5 and ‘Best Airport for Shopping’ 7 years in a row. www.heathrow.com@HeathrowAirport